In a 1st, IIT-Bombay sets up chair only for women faculty – Times of India

Mumbai: In a move aimed at recognising women leaders in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education, the premier IIT-Bombay instituted a chair exclusively for women faculty. The chair is sponsored by the institute’s alumnus from the Class of 1995. While women faculty members do occupy institutional chairs, this is the first at IIT-Bombay meant only for women. The chair will be open to faculty from across branches.
The institute’s alumnus from the civil engineering department, Amit Dixit, Blackstone’s Head of Asia for Private Equity, has not only sponsored the chair, but will also be supporting the student mentorship programme’s recruiting initiatives to attract more girls to the institute. The contribution was made in his personal capacity and the chair will be named after him.
Director Subhasis Chaudhuri, in a statement, said that the occupant of the chair will be a role model for female students and younger faculty. “Gender diversity in the campus is one of the key areas where we are constantly working. I am sure this will help in achieving better gender equity at IIT-B. This is possibly one of the first and unique efforts in the Indian university system,” said the director. The faculty on the chair will be appointed after a selection process. The institute currently has 34 chairs sponsored by donors, of these two are occupied by women. Of the 38-chair professorships established by the institute, two are occupied by women.
Dixit told TOI that his own personal and professional experiences in India and the US prompted him to focus on the issue. “Under-representation of women is highly visible. We rarely see women holding CEO positions in most tech companies. I am now in a position to bring a change,” he said. Dixit wants to set up a ‘conversion cell’ at the institute to help girls who apply for JEE and even clear it, but do not join owing to family pressures and concerns. The cell will help allay fears of parents from the tier 2 and tier 3 cities about sending daughters to big cities and improve the gender ratio on the campus. The government’s decision to have a supernumerary quota for girls has helped increase their admission from just 8% in 2016 to 18% in 2020.